This invention system and method provides a variable bowtie, the colors of the two halves of which can be chosen and combined as desired by the user for one wearing, and with a different choice or combination of colors for another wearing.
Bowties are a popular accessory, and may be worn in the most formal and the most informal settings. It is not unusual for both men and women to wear bowties. A bowtie, when worn, does not interfere with most activities, and can be worn without presenting danger of getting caught in or on other objects such as equipment, machines, or tools.
Wearing certain colors, and combinations of two or three colors taken together, on clothing is a common way of expressing support for an institution or a sports team, or to show membership or identification with a group, to express personal opinions, to acknowledge a holiday or a season, and sometimes simply to color-coordinate with other clothes. When combinations of colors are used for identification of an institution, team, or group, the specific hue, saturation, and value of each color are usually very important, where the wrong shade of a color may be considered inappropriate for a particular situation.
However, bowties presently available are made with only one, or very few, different textile materials of different colors. The chosen material might be a solid color, or might be a woven design or a printed design. The two halves of the bowtie, when worn, are typically of the same material and design, and accordingly look the same when worn. Even where the textile material has stripes or dots of different colors, those colors are seen in equal amounts on both halves of the bowtie. A self-tied bowtie can be made with different materials front and back, which gives a two-color effect when worn. A pre-tied or clip-on bowtie can be made with separate pieces of material, with the seams hidden behind the pre-tied knot, which allows a two-color effect.
But even if an existing bowtie is made in two colors, the bowtie will always feature only the same two colors every time it is worn. This limitation presents a problem to the person who wishes to wear a bowtie to express or show different things on different occasions. For example, at various times a person might want to show support for a red-and-white high school, a purple-and-gold college, a black-and-gold football team, a red-and-blue basketball team, a green-and-blue baseball team, a yellow-and-black social aid club, a red-and-green holiday season, a blue-and-gold state, and a red-white-and-blue nation, where different reds, greens, and blues are used by each entity. Representing more than one of the above situations would require the user to obtain multiple, separate bowties to cover all of these combinations. Further, each separate bowtie would only be useful for a single event, or only a few times, per year. It would require several separate presently available bowties to cover all of these combinations, and each separate bowtie would only be useful for one time, or only a few times, per year. It might be prohibitively expensive to acquire so many bowties, and it might require much time and effort to assemble such a collection.
U.S. Publication No. 2016/0135523, published by Andrew Hugh Ashmeade on May 19, 2016 for a “Spades Bowties,” discloses a multi-modular product that introduces a new, easier way to assemble, disassemble, and reassemble a bowtie quickly while still keeping the traditional look of a bowtie. The bow-flaps and center piece consist of different colors, texture, pattern, and fabrics that work simultaneously with one another. The bowtie system of the Ashmeade publication allows the consumer to arrange thirty-six different combinations of the bowtie. The system comprises a first bow-flap; a second blow-flap; a stabilizer configured to be positioned through each of the bow-flaps; and a neck strap to bind the pieces together. The neck strap is configured to retain the bow-flaps proximate at the user's neck, and a centerpiece is configured to selectively conceal the stabilizer and bowflaps, and bind to them to the neck strap.
U.S. Publication No. 2015/0052659 was published Feb. 26, 2015 by Yasmin Talic for “Selectively Interchangeable Neckties and Necktie Systems.” The selectively interchangeable necktie system includes a bow member, a strap configured to retain the bow member proximate a user's neck, and a binder configured to selectively bind the bow member to the strap. In some examples, the selectively interchangeable necktie system includes a plurality of bow members. In some further examples, the neckties include bow members, straps, and binders with different complimentary or contrasting colors, patterns, and materials, so that the necktie system may be adaptable for the range of applications in which it will be employed.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,466,131 issued on Apr. 5, 1949 to Alfred F. Taborski for a “Novelty Necktie.” The object of the Taborski invention is to provide an improved novelty display device, and particularly an improvement of a display device which may be detachably secured to garments. In the invention, generally flat wing elements are detachably connected to a base member so as to be interchangeable, and assembled on the base member with either face of each forward. The faces of these flat wing elements may carry pictures, words, symbols, or other information to be displayed. The display device may be worn as a necktie or pinned to any part of a garment, and is designed to be simple, light in weight, attractive, and novel in appearance, and also relatively inexpensive so that it may be discarded in part or in entirety when its purpose has been served.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,421,972 also issued to Alfred F. Taborski, on Jun. 10, 1947 for a “Bow Tie.” The bow tie invention provided a new and useful improvement in bow ties embodying interchangeable wing members adapted for detachable engagement with the knot structure of the tie. In the invention, the wings may be removed and replaced when desired and thus enable wing portions of the tie with various colors to be connected to the knot structure. The Taborski bow tie covers an article of manufacture including a tubular simulated knot structure and a pair of separable and replaceable wing members; a rigid member carried at the end of each of said wing members, where the rigid members each have a transverse disc portion at its outer end; and a tube in the knot structure having incomplete annular flanges at its opposite ends, each flange merging cooperatively with a lateral slotted end portion of the tube. The respective slots are each of a width corresponding to the diameter of the disc portion of the rigid member at the end of the correlated wing members, so as to enable frictional gripping engagement of the respective disc members with the flange portions of the knot structure tube. Opposed spring-urged members carried within the tube of the knot structure are provided for clamping the disc portions of the wing members against the flanges of the tube of the knot structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,420,387, also invented by Alfred F. Taborski, issued on May 13, 1947 for a “Preformed Necktie.” The preformed necktie provides an improved novelty necktie with which different visual effects in appearance may be obtained in the same tie by suitable manipulation. The necktie comprises a knot portion having collar attaching means and wings detachably connected to the knot portion so as to extend endwise therefrom. Each wing is rotatable relative to the knot portion about an axis extending lengthwise of the portion, and is also individually detachable from the knot portion. Either wing may be rotated relatively to the knot portion to present either of its faces forwardly, or detached to be replaced by a similar wing with a different appearance. The preformed necktie also provides for an embodiment in which one of the wings is in the form of a bellows, expansible and contractible at its free end, containing a spring within the bellows, whereby a sound device connected to the wing is operative to emit a sound upon movement of the spring in one direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,411,908 was also issued to Alfred F. Taborski, on Dec. 3, 1946 for a “Bow Tie.” In this invention, the primary object is to provide foldable wing portions hingedly connected at the knot portion of the tie, as well as means for the tie to be folded into a compact form for conveniently carrying in a pouch, container, or pocket of the wearer. The concept provides a hinge structure forming the knot portion of the tie, formed with a plurality of sockets in each of the hinge members to removably receive the ends of rigid strips carried by the wing portions of the tie. The wing portions may be formed of a plurality of piles of material of various colors, whereby the individual piles of material may be individually removed, and other piles of material of different colors may be interchangeably substituted. In this manner, the several piles of material forming the wing members may be replaced should the wing members become soiled or worn, or if a different combination of colors is desired by the wearer.
U.S. Publication No. 2015/0216243 was published Aug. 6, 2015 by Drew Storm Graham, and discloses an “Interchangeable Bow Tie.” One embodiment of the interchangeable bow tie consists of wings joined to a knot. The wings are interchangeable and affixed to the knot through a tongue in a groove fit, and are further secured to the knot through the magnetic attraction of magnets embedded in the knot to magnets embedded in the wings. The magnets embedded in the knot and wings are of a small, standard design. All of the magnets have their north poles facing the same direction relative to the front and back surfaces of the knot. The use of these standard magnets, and their consistent placement on the knot and wings with their north poles facing the same direction, facilitates the manufacture of knots and wings of a simple design that can be produced in small quantities at a low cost.
U.S. Publication No. 2014/0366243 was published Dec. 18, 2014 by Immanuel David Ontiveros et al., disclosing “Multi-Part Bow Ties.” The bow ties include at least a proximal panel that can easily be detached from a distal panel. The proximal and distal panels can be made from different fabrics, fabrics having different colors and/or patterns, and so forth, and thus enable a user to create bow ties wherein the distal and proximal panels have a different appearance. Preferably, each panel represents one-half, or less, of a bow tie, and includes the proximal and distal portions. Depending upon the type of bow tie (for example, a double-ended type or a single-ended type), the proximal portions are typically those that are seen when a bow tie is worn and which are looped or tied about each other when tying a bow tie. The distal portion generally refers to the portion of a bow tie panel that associates with a shirt collar, when the shirt is worn under the bow tie, and which is used to connect the panel to another bow tie panel that has a complementary connector at its distal end.